Within the past decade, the use of contact lenses has increased dramatically. Contact lenses are not only now a completely acceptable alternative to conventional frame-type eyeglasses, but many people also regard contact lenses as a preferred alternative because of relative safety and improved cosmetic appearance. With the continuing improvement in lens quality, in addition to a wider public acceptance and willingness to put up with the initial inconvenience of adjusting to the lenses, practioners in the contact lens field have become increasingly skilled and experienced at proper fitting of the lenses. Accordingly, some users will purchase several different pairs of lenses having different colors to enhance their appearance in addition to correcting their vision.
Most users apply the lenses one-at-a-time by placing a wetting solution on the lens, placing the lens on the tip of a finger, and moving the lens toward the eye while holding the eyelids apart with the opposite hand. The lenses are removed by manipulating the eyelids in a manner that will lift the lens away from the eye, thereby releasing the capillary attraction which holds the lens to the eye.
While most contact lens users can insert and remove lenses in accordance with this technique, others have great difficulty in acclimating themselves to placing things on their eyes with their fingers. Others have problems in developing sufficient dexterity to place the lenses on their eyes without damaging or dropping them. Women who use makeup will frequently have small quantities of foreign substances on their hands or near their eyes which may coat the lens, thereby necessitating its removal for cleaning and reinsertion. An especially difficult insertion and removal problem is encountered by older people, especially those who have had cataract surgery, who have unsteady hands.
In recognition of some of the difficulties in applying and removing lenses, the prior art is replete with devices to assist the user in inserting and/or removing lenses. Many of these devices comprise suction cups which communicate with squeeze bulb members to create a slight vacuum in the suction cup to hold the lens in place. The device is then moved toward the eye and, when the lens is nearly in place, the squeeze bulb is actuated to release the lens from the suction cup. These devices are generally handheld small units which are intended for insertion of one lens at a time. Typical examples of such a device are found in Carruthers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,914, and Koblar, U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,971. In each case the sides of a flexible tube are squeezed to propel the lens from the suction cup. Devices functioning in the same manner are also disclosed in Hutchison, U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,113, and Drdlik, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,272. These devices also have a light-carrying tube communicating with the suction cup which illuminates the lens when it is in place, thereby assisting the user in orienting the lens toward the eye. Updegraff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,025, discloses a similar device wherein the suction cup communicates through a flexible tube with a mouth piece, so that the user may adjust the pressure at the suction cup by sucking or blowing with his mouth. In Henning, U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,028, a lens inserting and removing device is disclosed wherein a suction creating means at the suction cup operates in response to a slight axial movement of the sleeve supporting the suction cup.
These suction-creating devices have not gained general acceptance with contact lens practioners for various reasons. Some regard these devices as being unsafe, in that if the suction device accidentally contacts the surface of the eye and a vacuum is created, damage could occur to the eye. On the other hand, if the force with which the lens is released is even slightly excessive, such that the lens is propelled into the eye, corneal damage could also result.
Various other devices exist for placement of a lens in the eye which involve simple movement of the device toward the eye. Price, U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,866, and Wagstaff, U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,481 each disclose hand-held devices having a suction cup mounted on a slideable plunger which the user can move toward his eye. Massenz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,618, and Rinaldy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,696, disclose similar devices which also have large resilient cups surrounding the plungers which serve to maintain the eyelids in an open position. Allen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,968 discloses a suction cup mounted on a hollow stem which communicates with an aerosol which can cause retention or release of a lens held in the suction cup. All of the aforementioned devices require that the device be moved manually by the user toward the eye. This requires a steady hand and substantial confidence on the part of the user, who normally uses one hand to hold his eyelids apart while moving the device toward his eye. In addition, all of these devices require individual insertion of the lenses, thereby necessitating repetition of the insertion or removal process for each eye. A contact lens insertion device which allows the user to orient his head with respect to lens holding members is disclosed in Parrent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,109. In this device, contact lenses are held by surface tension on horizontally extending tubes, and the user brings his eyes into alignment with the tubes while resting his chin on a horizontal plate. The user then slides the tubes toward his eye until contact is made between the lens and the eye. No provision is made for removal of lenses with this device, and the pull of gravity could dislodge one of the lenses from the holding device prior to insertion.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for insertion or removal of contact lenses with which the lenses can be inserted or removed from both eyes simultaneously. It is another object of the invention to provide a device having adjustable headresting features which allow the user to firmly fix his head relative to the device prior to actuation of the device. It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus having separate lens holding members for insertion and removal of lenses, moved into or out of position as required.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a device for insertion and removal of contact lenses which has minimal potential for misuse or injury, and which is virtually foolproof in its operation. These and other objects of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art from the following description of a specific embodiment of the invention.